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| Nothofagus solandri | ||||||||||||||
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| Nothofagus solandri |
Nothofagus solandri var. solandri (New Zealand Black Beech) and var. cliffitoides (New Zealand Mountain Beech) is a species of Nothofagus, endemic to New Zealand, where it occurs on both North Island and South Island. Var. solandri occurs to low altitudes to the mountains, while var. cliffortioides grows to the treeline.
Black Beech (var. solandri) is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 27 m tall. Mountain Beech (var. cliffortioides) is smaller (20 m)and near the treeline forms a "goblin forest" where the trees are no more than 2 m tall.
The leaves are alternately arranged, ovoid, 10 mm long and 5 mm broad, with smooth margins. In var. cliffortioides the leaves are more elongated and have a pointed end, while var. solandri has shorter rounder leaves. There is however considerable variation in leaf shape within the varieties, and hybridisation occurs between the varieties.
Var. solandri is known as Black Beech because it is prone to a sooty mold which covers the trunk and branches. This in turn is the result of a scale insect which sucks sap from the tree, and excretes honeydew a sweet liquid in small droplets (less than 1 mm diameter)on the end of stalks. This feeds the sooty mold, and also forms a valuable high energy food source for various birds and insects including the Kākā. The infestation is common and does not appear to harm the tree.
Both varieties have been planted in Great Britain and var. cliffortiodes has shown better cold tolerance than var. solandri in places like Scotland1.
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